Ore-concentrator.



No 698,293. Patented Apr. 22, I902.

@ c. M. KIMBALLI ORE CONCENTRATOR.

Application filed Dec. 16, 1901) (No Model.)

00 oo .0 7oo' o .T0 at whom it may concern/.2

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 7

CHARLES-M. KIMBALL, OF-PORT HURON, MICHIGAN.

ORE-CONCENTRAT'OR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersIatent N 0, 698,293, dated April 22, 1902.

Application filed December 16.190

Be it known that I, CHARLES M. KIMB LLpf Port Huron, in thecounty of St. Clair ,and

State of Michigan, have invented newand; useful Improvements in Ore-Oonceutrators;-. and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of. said invention, referencebeing had to the accompany:

ing drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

' The invention relates to ore-separators of that type in which the gold or other heavy material is concentrated at one point of the apparatus,while the lighter materiahthe sand, pebbles, 850., constituting the tailings or the mining debris, is washed therefrom.

' a As is well known, there are many places in the United States, Canada, and other countries where gold and other precious metals exist in more or less quantities in sandy and pebbly soil which, however, is inaccessible to water in large quantities. In such locations it has frequently been found impossible to obtain gold in paying quantities owing to the lack of sufficient water, although water in somewhat limited quantities is obtainable.

The particular object of my invention is the production of an ore-separator which shall be simple in construction and easy to operate and which will enable a relatively small quan-' tity of water to be used over and over with but slight and occasional additions of water to replace that which; adheres to the dish 1 its lower end, the purpose of which latter will be hereinafter described. Y Mounted to rotate charged tailings or mining debris. 1

To this end my invention consists in the construction andcombination of parts, substantially as hereinafter described and.

claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical sectional viewof a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a plan view of the machine.

Similar reference characters indicate simi- Serial Natchez. (no model-3,

7 will engage under the rim, so as to firmly hold and support the tank in position to be i an inverted cone,is formed witha wired edge or rim 9, whereby the tops 7 c of the brackets readily removed byliftingfrom between the.

standards or brackets. The innerwall of the tank is provided with brackets (preferably three) on which there is removably supported what l may term an overflow T disk or plate, which has a trough at its outer edge. Said trough is indicated at 11, and the under side of the trough is provided with inverted-U- shaped brackets or guides 11, which rest upon the brackets 10, and therefore support the trough and prevent any tendency to ro- 'tate. f The trough 11 is connected to or formed integral with the outer edge of the overflow plate .or disk 12, which latter is preferably slightly inclinedvdownward from its center to the trough. The centerof the disk12 is pro vided with an openin g and wit-h a downwardlyextending circular flange 13, to which is connected the central vertical pipe or cylinder or V fiume 14, the lower end of which is open and of the tank. I It will beseen that the fiume or cylinder 14, the disk 12, and the trough 11 are all re movably supported upon the bracketslO.

-, terminates a short distance above the bottom Across-bar15 connects two of thestandards "6, which project or rise somewhat above upper edge of-the tank for this purpose. At

substantially the center of the cross-bar 15 is a'v'ertical' bearing 16 for a sleeve 17, having the;

a gear 18 atits. upper end and a plate 19-at in the sleeve 17 is a shaft 20, which extends down to substantially the lower end of the vertical cylinder 14 and is provided with sev-- bearing 23 for a short vertical shaft 24, carrying the gear 26, meshing with the pinion At one side of the bearing 16 is secured a of the shaft 20, and a pinion 25, meshing with the gear 18 on the sleeve 17. The relative sizes of these pinions and gears are such that the rotation of the shaft 20 will he several times greater than the rotation of the sleeve 17. The shaft 24 also has at its upper end the bevel-pinion 27, meshing with the bevel -pinion 28 on a horizontal shaft 29, mounted in suitable bearings carried by the crossbar. This power-shaft 29 may be operated bya suitable engine or by manual power by means of a crank or handle 30.

The plate 19 has a series of pairs of lugs 31. A pin 32 connects each pair of lugs. To the pins 32 are pivoted the inner ends of arms 33, the outer ends of which extend downward into the trough and carry scraper-blades 3%, which are preferablypivoted to the outer ends of the arms.

I preferably employ a deflector under the plate 19. A suitable deflector is represented at 35 and consists of a concave-convex casting secured under the plate 19, so as to deflect onto the disk 12 the water and mining debris rising from the central cylinder or flume.

It will now be readily understood that the rotation of the shaft 29 and the circulatingblades at the requisite speed and in the proper direction will cause such a rapid circulation of water in the tank (said circulation being downward outside of the central cylinder and under the lower edge thereof) as to cause the water to carry with it up through the ilume all but the heaviest particles which are in the material being mined. The heavy particles, as the gold, will settle at the bottom of the inverted-cone-shaped tank, while the sand, pebbles, &c., will be carried up through the flume or central cylinder and out over the disk 12 and will lodge in the trough, While the water flows over the trough back into the tank. T0 continuously dispose of the sand or mining debris, I provide the following construction: At one point of the circumference of the disk 12 the trough 11 is raised, preferably, so that at this point its bottom will be slightly above the upper surface of the disk 12. This raised portion of the trough is provided with an opening 40, which communicates with a spout 41, leading out through the side of the tank, the outer end of said spout being adapted to discharge into any suitable chute or tube. The scrapers, which are moved along the trough at a comparatively slow speed, carry before them the mining debris which lodges in the trough, and as each scraper approaches the raised portion of the trough it rides up the inclined surface thereof (the arms 23 being pivoted, as hereinbefore described,for this purpose) and pushes the debris along until it passes out through the opening 40 and spout 41. The opening 10 is narrower than the width of the scraper-blades 3+1, so that the latter will ride over the opening and down the other inclined plane of the trough to continue their journey around the disk 12.

To avoid as far as possible the loss of any material quantity of Water through the ope11- ing 40, I provide an opening in the disk 12 near its edge, said opening having a vertical flange 42. At one end of this flange 4.2 the inner Wall of the trough is cut away to form a lateral outflow for the water, this lateral outflow being represented at 43.

During the operation of the machine any water that is being pushed up the incline toward the opening 40 by a blade 3* escapes through the outflow 43 back into the tank, leaving only the moist sand to be discharged through the opening 40. Such sand or debris as escapes from the trough with the water through the outflow or passage 43 is eventually removed from the tank by the continued operation of the machine.

The operation of the machine, as hereinbefore described, results in leaving the gold at the bottom of the tank and carrying all mining debris away therefrom, said operation being continuous for as long as the operator desires. The material is supplied over the open edge of the tank in any suitable Way, by hand or otherwise. For some little time after the last of the material has been placed in the tank operation of the circulating-shaft and the debris-removing arms and scrapers will be continued until nothing remains in the tank but Water and the gold at the bottom. It will be of course understood that during such operation su fficient water will be supplied to the tank in small quantities to replace that carried out by the moist debris, the level of the water being preferably kept at or just below the upper edge of the trough. No such power is required to operate the machine as would be the case if water and debris had to be lifted from a level at the lower endof the vertical cylinder to the upper end thereof, for the reason that only such power is required as is necessary to overcome the difference in the level of the water surrounding the vertical cylinder and the upper end of said cylinder. The lower end of the tank is provided with an opening with any suitable closure, such as a plug 45. Before removing the gold through this opening the Water will be drawn off, as by means of a pipe 46, this pipe communicating with the tank at a point a little at one side of and above the bottom of the tank, so that the gold will not be carried out when the water is being drawn elf.

1 claim as my invention 1. An ore-separator comprising in its construction an open tank having a settlingtrough with a generally imperforate bottom located within its upper portion, means also within the tank for circulating water and tailings from the lower part of the tank to said trough, and means for moving the tailings which lodge in said trough along the bottom thereof, a tailings-outlet from the trough extending through the outer side of the tank, whereby gold or other heavy material will remain at the bottom of the tank while the tailings will be elevated into the trough, and autom atioally and continuously removed therefrom while the water overflows from the trough into the tank, as set forth.

2. An ore-separator comprising in its construction a tank having a vertical fiume or cylinder located therein and open at the top and bottom, a circular settling-trough surrounding the upper end of the fiume below the upper edge of the tank and adapted to receive water and tailings discharged at the upper end of the fiume and to return water to the tank by overflow, means for elevating water through said flu me, the said trough being provided with a debris-opening,and means for moving debris around thetrough to the opening.

3. An ore-separator comprising in its construction an inverted-cone-shaped tank havin g a vertical fiume or cylinder located therein and open at the top and bottom, a circular settling-trough surrounding the upper end of the fiume below the upper edge of the tank and adapted to receive water and tailings discharged at the upper end of the fiume and to return water to the tank by overflow, means for elevating water through said fiume, the said trough being provided with a debrisopening, and means for moving debris around the trough to said opening, means being provided for removing gold from the bottom of the tank.

4. An ore-separator comprising an invertedcone-shapedtank having brackets 10 projecting inwardly therefrom, a circular settlingtrough resting on said brackets, a vertical cylinder or fiume located centrally and having a circular plate or disk connecting its upper end with the trough, means for elevating water within the fiume, and scraper-blades movable in said trough, said trough having provision for the discharge of mining debris therefrom and for returning the water to thetank by overflow.

5. An ore-separator comprising an inverted cone-shaped tank having brackets 10 projecting inwardly therefrom, a circular trough resting on said brackets, a vertical cylinder or fiume located centrally and having a circular plate or disk connecting its upper end with the trough, means for elevating water lar plate or disk connecting its upper end with .the trough, means for elevating water within the fiume, a rotatable disk or plate above the fiume and means for rotating it, outwardlyprojecting'arms pivoted to said disk and having scraping-blades pivoted to their outer ends, said trough being raised at one portion and having an opening in its bottom, and. a chute or spout leading from said opening outside of the tank.

7. An ore-separator comprising in its construction a tank, a vertical fiume or passage mounted centrally in the tank and having a circular trough within the upper portion of the tank and below the upper edge thereof,

with the upper end of the fiume, ashaft having spiral blades mounted in" said vertical fiume, a disk surrounding said shaft and having arms provided with blades fitting and said trough surrounding and communicating In testimony whereof I affiir my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES M. I BA L.

Witnesses:

GRAFTON L. MoGILL, F. S. MAGUIRE. 

